


Deviation #8

by JayBarou



Series: Things that could have been Different in Endgame [7]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Crack, M/M, time traveling shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-26 21:32:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18725404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayBarou/pseuds/JayBarou
Summary: The one with two Lokis and a sleight of hand





	Deviation #8

**Author's Note:**

> Once again speed writing.

 

It was Loki’s most torrid romance, that hell-forged box of blue trouble and him. It only brought him pain and trouble, but he couldn’t help himself when the blue brightness called. In truth, his history with blue boxes never led to a rosy sunset.

He had only had it for a moment; he had just stolen it from Asgard (saved it, really, Asgard was destroyed afterward, so it was a heroic saving, even if nobody was there to appreciate it) and then There was Thanos. Blue boxes attracted trouble, especially the ones that defy physics and theirs was a toxic but addictive relationship. He’d break things up for good with the Tesseract as soon as he survived this mess.

At a different time and space, a very different Loki contemplated in awe as a Tesseract slid through the ground to practically kiss his feet. It was meant to be.

An older and more jagged Loki reached for the Tesseract, offering it to Thanos, but intending to use it to teleport as much of the ship with him and as far as he could. His power found interference and before he could stabilize it, he got sucked into a wave. Well, they were about to die anyway so this was…

Familiar?

He opened his eyes and it only took a moment to realize he had already lived something like this. This was Midgard, but he was unsupervised and he had the Tesseract in his hand. There was a commotion by his side, and he didn’t remember that, but Thor’s presence meant he hadn’t just traveled in space, but then…

“I’m going to need that, princess”.

Loki felt a tug on the Tesseract and he acted on instinct. He activated the blue box again, and he was suddenly standing again at the ship with Thanos and his minions, but Stark was attached to the blue box. Everyone was looking at them strangely.

“Stark?”

“Thor?”

Loki whacked the blue box.

“What a moment to break down, dear.”

Stark had powered up a repulsor and was pointing around himself, but he was not letting go of the cube. Loki cursed.

 

Meanwhile, on Earth, young Loki was starring around himself. Did the Tesseract only have two modes: Bad and worse? What was with that other place? Thor was battered and Thanos was there.

“We are going to need that, princess.”

Loki looked at Stark, pointing a repulsor at him and breathing heavily after his heart attack. And the decision to let go was easy. If his choices were this or facing Thanos, he would take this any day, so for the second time in twenty-four hours when Stark pointed at him, he stood down and let go of the blue cube.

 

Meanwhile somewhere in the quadrant X-300.

“Stark, walk quickly to Thor, keep pointing at them.”

“What? Why would…?”

“Because you have a long-range weapon to shoot Thanos and I don’t. What I have is a short-range dagger to stab you if you don’t.”

But Loki was not waiting and Stark’s complaints seemed to be performative because he was running backward at the same speed as him without needing to drag him. Stark shot here and there, but Thanos was not the kind to be surprised for long. Loki reached Thor just in time to activate the Tesseract again and disappear.

 

Meanwhile on Earth.

“Don’t lose it this time.” Stark passed the Tesseract to someone behind him, but the Shield agents launched themselves at it and when it flashed again it was one of them holding it*.

The three bodies of a jagged Thor, a jagged Loki, and a disguised Stark fell on the ground. Stark jumped to get the Tesseract but Loki hid it in a pocket dimension. Thor couldn’t do much since he was still encased in steel. Loki and Stark were in a glaring contest. Thor had to cough for them to realize they were surrounded and arms were pointed at them. The bewildered faces wouldn’t hold the trigger, apparently not even for Stark. _Especially_ Stark, who was being pointed at by younger Stark.

“I see you take self-loathing to the next level, Stark.”

Behind Stark, a Loki so young that made him sick was almost politely standing to the side.

Stark the old looked at rough Loki and Thor and nobody needed to say it out loud. Silence would be their course of action.

Everyone seemed to notice too. Some radios called for the Black widow, others called for Fury.

The young Loki laughed behind his gag, reminding everyone of his presence.

Loki remembered that moment, the manic energy, the euphoria of the freedom in his own mind. That was no reason to look the way he did, almost happy.

They ended up in the same cell, the four of them. Because nobody had planned there to be four enhanced people to contain.

Each of them was just as distrustful of the other three as they could be.

“Stark!” Loki the young banged on the glass door after he managed to get his gag off. “You could tell me your weak spots and I would break this one for you.”

Loki and Stark were still in a staring contest every few minutes. Thor had tried to engage any of the two Lokis, but both were dismissive, and Tony was strangely quiet too. It was obvious for everyone outside of the cage that Thor was the weak link, the only one who had some information and could be tricked into revealing it.

That’s why when someone found Selvig and sent him to ask some questions, both Stark and Loki ran interference so Selvig couldn’t talk to Thor. The younger Loki made a half-assed effort to help once he realized what they were doing.

They were all sitting on the ground silently when Loki the old laughed quietly, but loud enough for such a crowded room.

Loki the young was the first one to raise a questioning eyebrow.

“I was just thinking how much easier this would be if Stark had the Allspeak.”

The younger Loki looked horrified and sent the metal gag against the spot between them.

“Don’t you dare!”

“Hmm?”

“The Allspeak is transmitted with a kiss from a skillful mage.”

Stark laughed out loud.

“I’m a mar…” And he shut his mouth looking at the cameras.

“There is no need to create more confusion. They would think you have enchanted him.” Thor warned them.

“Don’t worry, brother, I wasn’t going to. Your Avengers never trusted him much, we don’t have any good reason to make them more paranoid.”

“I agree,” said the younger Tony coming from the far door. “That’s why I’m going to get in a lot of trouble for the loop on the cameras. Now, who is going to tell me what’s going on here?”

“Changelings, Stark! Your race can’t have forgotten about them already.”

The three ones out of time stared at the younger Loki with surprise, but younger Tony didn’t miss a beat.

“Pull the other one, lime lolly, have you seen those gray hairs? This is time-travel.”

“Of course I’ve seen them. I just thought you painted yours.” Loki grinned.

“I need the Tesseract to kill Thanos.” The older Tony didn’t waste any time telling Loki. “And some freedom wouldn’t hurt”. He told his younger counterpart.

“Kill who?” Tony asked.

“We’ll join on the request for freedom.”

“As soon as the two set points break their connection, the Tesseract can be used to take us out of here. We don’t need freedom and I don’t need to give you the Tesseract. We only need to outrun Thanos.”

“Brother!”

The glare was between siblings this time.

“You are a disaster with negotiations. Okay, we agree.”

“Then… you only need time for the Tesseract to recharge?”

The younger Loki laughed. “You know what that means, Stark?”

“Unfortunately, I do, yes.”

Thor looked at them confused. The younger Loki shrugged.

“That me over there is going to bust you three out. And that Stark over there is going to take the Tesseract to the future.”

“Meaning there won’t be a Tesseract for our Thor to take this little shit and him to Asgard. They’ll have to stay here.”

The three time-travelers clearly considered the consequences of it, but they didn’t say a word.

“You know, Stark?” The young Loki said teasingly. “My counterpart suggested giving you the Allspeak, and I’m having second thoughts…” He grinned. Tony frowned, it looked like he had not been listening to the feed.

The older Stark took the gag to throw it at Loki and warn his past self. He had seen that spark of curiosity and it was not good, but he stilled his hand because he also knew that being told not to do something was adding gas to the fire. Instead, he grabbed the other Loki’s arm and whispered. “Take us out of here before this timeline makes me regret my life choices.”

But, of course, an older Loki was only slightly different, so he should have expected the answer:

“Regrets, Stark? We can’t have that, just ask for it.”

***

* Nobody remembered to miss him, but the Hydra undercover agent went on in a different timeline to become Thanos' successor and most feared human in several galaxies.

**Author's Note:**

> I accept suggestions for more Alternate Endgame ficlets.


End file.
